I had a Vic 20 and then later a C64. Very much one of the defining machines that drove me into the career I'm in. Some of my earliest forays into coding were on those, before I got an Amiga later and learned how to do it 'for real' as it were.

An Everglades City airboat captain who lost his hand to an alligator last month was arrested Friday.

Wallace Weatherholt, 63, is facing a misdemeanor charge of unlawful feeding of an alligator.

He has since bonded out and has a court appearance set for Aug. 22.

Weatherholt was leading an Indiana family on a tour of the Everglades on June 12 when he encountered a 9-foot alligator, which bit his hand off at the wrist.

After the attack, Florida Fish and Wildlife officers began an investigation into whether the captain had fed or provoked the alligator, leading to the attack.

In an interview shortly after the attack, FWC spokeswoman Carli Segelson said that there had been allegations of that happening.

The Associated Press reports that airboat passengers stated Weatherholt hung a fish over the side of the boat and had his hand at the water’s surface when the alligator attacked.

Feeding alligators is illegal. Those who feed an alligator face a second-degree misdemeanor, with a fine of up to $500 and possible jail time.

David Weathers, a nuisance-alligator trapper and owner of several alligators, said the reason it’s illegal to feed alligators is because once the reptiles are fed by humans, they lose their fear. If the alligator in this incident had been fed in the past — either by Weatherholt or someone else — just the sight of the airboat could bring the alligator right up next to it, he said.

I understand why it's illegal to feed alligators, but don't they think he's already been punished enough ? I think he and all the passengers on his boat learned a lesson that day.

"Following early successes each FSA unit now operates with one or two video activists. The activists are armed with Kalashnikovs and camera phones – the instruments of 21st-century warfare. 'When the enemy is shooting you it's very hard to get out your camera,' said Abdulrahman. 'Sometimes I put it away and reach for my gun. If the army sees anyone with a camera they try and kill him first.'

Our first home computer was a Compucolor 2. We also had a Commodore 64, a TRS 80, a Microbee, an XT, then a 286, 386, 486 and so on through the IBM series. My dad also had a few homebuilt kit computers that ran BASIC; he loved technology and always had ridiculously supercharged and overclocked machines with bits cut out of the casing where he'd jerry-rigged extra boards.

Ah the Commodore 64! I once spent hours programing one to display a very blocky version of the Mona Lisa and then left it switched on for a week because I had no way to save it. I'm surprised the TV didn't get burnt in.